Saint Longinus (Bernini)
| Saint Longinus | |
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| Artist | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Year | 1629-38 |
| Catalogue | 28 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Marble |
| Subject | Saint Longinus |
| Dimensions | 440 cm × 440 cm (170 in × 174 in) |
| Location | St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City |
Saint Longinus is a sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Completed in 1638, the marble sculpture sits in the north-eastern niche in the crossing of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is over four meters high. An early spectator of the statue, the English diarist John Evelyn, called it a work of "Colossean magnitude".
In 1627 Bernini replaced Carlo Maderno as chief architect for St. Peter's Basilica and was given complete control over any new projects in St. Peter's until 1647, three years after the Pope's death. Bernini not only oversaw the addition of interior decoration in St. Peter's but he was responsible for the creation of several works, including Saint Longinus.
Saint Longinus was one of four statues commissioned for the niches under the crossing of St Peter's, along with statues of St Andrew, St Helen, and St Veronica, all of whom have relics associated with them in the basilica. Small models were created by various artists, including one of St Andrew by Bernini. After various discussions with the committee selecting the works, Bernini was then appointed to create St Longinus. Bernini was paid 3,300 Roman scudi for the work, the same as each of the other sculptors producing statues for the niche.
It is likely that the early bozzetto - (a rough model made in terracotta), held in the Fogg Art Museum and dated to ca. 1631, was done by Bernini as he continued to work through various concepts for the final statue. However, the design used in the Harvard bozzetto was not the one used in the final statue; changes to the Baldacchino - the immense four pillared arch built in the centre of the crossing - influenced the Longinus design. "Instead of a figure of the Risen Christ," CD Dickerson writes, the Baldacchino was now to carry a simple globe and cross. Therefore, as Bernini grasped, it no longer made sense for the Longinus to be looking up at the Baldacchino in a worshipful pose."
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